Lee & Kirby & Ortolani: The Last Fantastic Four Story, Part One

This is a bit of a forgotten masterpiece, both because it saw limited distribution, and because it was published in a non-English speaking country. Between 1992 and 1994, in the pages of the Italian fanzine MADE IN USA, devoted to American comics, cartoonist Leonardo Ortolani (often better known by his simple signature, Leo) was such a hardcore fan of the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby era of FANTASTIC FOUR that he wrote and drew his own four-part finale to the series, set just after the final Lee & Kirby story. In doing so, he attempted to pay homage to the creative spark that had filled the title, and to bring a variety of dangling plot threads and disparate elements together into a satisfying conclusion.

It’s terrific.

Ortolani would become known and recognized for his series RAT-MAN, a satirical take on an America-style super hero which became wildly popular in Italy and throughout Europe, but which I don’t believe was ever translated for publication in the United States. And certainly this story, which ran four chapters and close to 100 pages and was totally unlicensed, never gained a lot of recognition. Which is a shame, as it’s a labor of love produced by a creator who clearly has an excellent grasp on the material.

All of the translations here were done by me using software, so it’s possible and even likely that a few errors crept in along the way. There are also some idioms that needed to be rephrased in order to work in English.

REED: Without Ben, we can never stop him!

WHEN FALLS THE SCYTHE!

CAPTION: THE FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR

TITLE: PROLOGUE..

COLONEL: I’m sorry, Doctor Richards, but your rocket won’t take off until you get approval from the government.

REED: All right, Colonel, I’ll wait until you give us the “green light.”

BEN: Don’t call me next weekend to go to the stars. I’ll be in orbit with Janet the Red